Rahul Gandhi demanded that the EC must release the data: the forms, the OTP trails and the relevant logs — within one week.
Published Sep 18, 2025 | 11:49 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 18, 2025 | 12:58 PM
Rahul Gandhi during the press conference.
Synopsis: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is aiding the vote theft in India by protecting the “murderers of democracy”. To buttress his claim, he presented information from the Aland constituency in Karnataka from the 2023 Assembly elections.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, 18 September, alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is aiding the vote theft in India by protecting the “murderers of democracy”.
To buttress his claim, he presented information from the Aland constituency in Karnataka from the 2023 Assembly elections.
“Today, we present a milestone investigation that demonstrates to the youth of this country how elections are being manipulated. I will make a strong claim about CEC Gyanesh Kumar. I am the LoP of the Lok Sabha, and I have strong proof — proof that is clear, black and white. The Chief Election Commissioner is protecting the people who are destroying India’s democracy,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“Election after election, some people are targeted and removed from voter lists: Dalits, minorities, Adivasis and OBCs. We have found proof of this. I am presenting that proof, and you can judge it,” he added.
“We call on CEC Gyanesh Kumar to stop protecting those we call the murderers of our democracy. He must release the data: the forms, the OTP trails and the relevant logs — within one week. If he refuses, we will know for sure that Gyanesh Kumar is protecting those who are undermining our democratic process,” Rahul Gandhi said.
The Congress leader said the party will soon “drop a Hydrogen bomb” regarding the vote theft issue.
Meanwhile, in a post on X, the Election Commission of India said that the allegations made by Rahul Gandhi are “incorrect and baseless”.
He said in Aland somebody tried to delete 6,018 votes. “A BLO (Booth Level Officer) noticed her uncle’s vote had been deleted. She found that the application was filed by a neighbour. She asked the neighbour, and the neighbour did not know anything,” he said.
Data presented by Rahul Gandhi.
He further said that the total number of deleted or added voters is unclear, and it happens across the country.
“People were unaware — including those whose votes were deleted and those on whose behalf applications were filed — as some individuals hijacked the process and deleted names,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“Applications were filed impersonating real people. They were submitted automatically using software. These applications were sent from several states. They were targeted at Congress voters and targeted booths where Congress was winning,” he added.
“Godabai — in whose name the applications were made — had no idea this was being done. The phone numbers used to submit the applications originated from several states outside Karnataka. The questions are: Whose numbers are these? How are they operating? Where are they operating from? How were the OTPs generated?” he questioned.
Rahul Gandhi demonstrated another example, of one Suryakanth, on whose name 12 applications were filed to delete voters.
These applications were filed in 14 minutes in his name. “I haven’t deleted anything. I did not file applications. I have made complaints to the authorities. Twelve applications were filed in my name, and I had no idea,” said Suryakanth.
“I challenge anyone to fill two such applications in 38 seconds — you cannot. Even the timestamps are questionable; they were filed at 4 in the morning,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Timeline of CID probe.
The Congress leader further alleged that this was done in a centralised manner. “Someone in call-centre–style operations used people at booths to file applications. The phone numbers were from outside the state. Deletions happened in Congress strongholds. This is a planned, targeted process,” he said.
“Why are we accusing Gyanesh Kumar? Because there is an ongoing investigation in Karnataka. The CID (Criminal Investigation Department) has written repeatedly to the Election Commission. They have asked for basic information: destination IPs, device IPs, and OTP trails. The Commission has not provided this information — information that would lead us to the operations centre,” he added.
Further, he provided the chronology of the CID probe.
“By September 2025, the CID has sent 18 letters to the EC with no adequate response,” Rahul Gadhi said.
“This is proof that Gyanesh Kumar has been protecting these murderers of democracy. This operation uses large, centralised resources. The question is: who is that ‘someone’? The answer lies with the Election Commission, and he knows who is behind this,” he added.
“This is not an isolated case. Similar incidents have been found in Rajura (Maharashtra), and we have evidence of activity in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana,” Rahul Gandhi added.
He added that people from within the EC are helping the Congress expose the irregularities.
In a post on X, the EC fact-checked the allegations put forth by Rahul Gandhi.
” No Deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Rahul Gandhi. In 2023, certain unsuccessful attempts were made for deletion of electors in Aland Assembly Constituency and an FIR was filed by the authority of ECI itself to investigate the matter. As per records, Aland Assembly Constituency was won by Subhadh Guttedar (BJP) in 2018 and BR Patil (INC) in 2023,” the EC said.
❌Allegations made by Shri Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless.#ECIFactCheck
✅Read in detail in the image attached 👇 https://t.co/mhuUtciMTF pic.twitter.com/n30Jn6AeCr
— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) September 18, 2025
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
